


Something Borrowed

by ohmyfae



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Arranged Marriage AU, M/M, breath kink if you squint, handjobs, questionable makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 07:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17198984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmyfae/pseuds/ohmyfae
Summary: Before the empire took Tenebrae, Ravus Nox Fleuret and Noctis Lucis Caelum were betrothed in an attempt to unite their kingdoms. Now, their betrothal is dragged up again by the empire, and Ardyn takes the matter of their new, profoundly awkward marriage into his own hands.





	Something Borrowed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dustofwarfare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustofwarfare/gifts).



Ravus had never put much thought into marriage. With war spilling over the borders, plague in the outlands, and the daily work of ruling a country piling up in his mother's long absences, love was a luxury shunted aside in the wake of more pressing matters. There was talk of an alliance with Lucis--Most likely between the young prince Noctis and Luna, if Ravus had read the council room correctly--but his mother married for love, and she was loath to draw up a contract so long as her children remained indifferent. So Ravus had stalled, basking in the warm summer days of his sixteenth year, setting aside dance cards and listening to his sister recite her lessons in the garden. 

He was just cooling down from a fencing lesson in the unused skyward wing when his mother appeared, dressed in her formal best, and proceeded to ruin his life.

"Darling," she said. "I have... Marvelous news."

Ravus draped his fencing jacket over the laundry basket. "Really, mother?" He smiled, but his mother's answering grin was strained at the edges. 

"I'm sending you and Lunafreya to Lucis," his mother said. "When King Regis comes to heal his son."

The world around Ravus seemed to slow. The sun that flickered through the tree canopy over the wide, star-shaped skylight dimmed, and the bright motes of dust around him went still. His breath came harsh and ragged in the silence.

"When are they coming?" he asked. He could almost hear them, the empire, the roar of their siege engines, the uniform stamp of magitech soldiers racing through the bridges of the manor. 

"Regis and Noctis will be here tomorrow," his mother said. She brushed at her gauzy sleeves. "We will make the announcement that afternoon. Ravus. My sweet boy." She stepped forward, taking his pale cheeks in her hands. "I know you would rather this happen naturally, in your own time, but Regis and I have decided that it would be best that we... show a united front. Everything we do is to ensure not just your safety, but the safety of Tenebrae. Of Lucis."

Ravus frowned. "I don't--"

"Tomorrow," his mother said, brushing her thumb over Ravus' cheek, "we will announce your betrothal to Noctis Lucis Caelum, heir to the Lucian throne."

 

\---

 

The swan was bad enough.

The centerpiece of Noctis and Ravus' reception table was a block of ice hacked into the shape of a disgruntled bird, which outshone even the riot of flower garlands overhead through sheer, mind-numbing size. Its elegant neck bristled in a frozen squawk of outrage, and it's feet stamped on a broken lyre, but it was the two figures entwined in its feathers that made onlookers stop and squint. Both were naked, possibly embracing, possibly wrestling, and one of them, the one with the long, stringy hair and a melting scowl, was reaching out to clasp the swan by the neck.

Ardyn Izunia, chancellor of Niflheim, smiled and raised a glass to the sculpture, which was already sweating in the heat of a bright Altissian summer.

"I believe," he said, taking Noct's new husband by the elbow, "that it's meant to be a metaphor."

Ravus Nox Fleuret grimaced and downed his champagne.

"You know what," said Noct. "I think I see it."

He glanced over at Ravus, who was still standing with Ardyn's hand at his elbow, glowering at the sculpture. There were probably rules about this. Crown princes _probably_ didn't let chancellors touch their husbands. Then again, Noct wasn't expecting to _have_ a husband. Not after the empire tore Tenebrae to pieces, not when Ravus and Luna were left in the wreckage, disappearing in the ranks of faceless MTs. No one expected the alliance to mean anything with both Luna and Ravus under the thumb of the empire. Not until two weeks ago, when Ardyn strolled through the doors of the Citadel and reminded them that despite everything, no one had ever _rescinded_ the betrothal. And the emperor wasn't one to let two star-crossed lovers languish, was he?

Noct searched Ravus' eyes as he gazed at the monstrosity on their reception table. Ravus had been painfully formal through the whole wedding, barely even daring to look Noct's way for more than a few seconds at a time, and Luna kept wincing at him from her place at Ravus' side. Still, they hadn't tried to kill each other, swan-borne metaphor or not. He had to take his victories where he could find them.

"Chancellor," Noct said, and stopped as Ardyn turned his way. There was something odd about the way he was smiling--not forced in the way Luna and the others' were, but still false, more of a baring of teeth than a true grin. Noct found the words dying on his tongue, and Ravus raised his brows, following Ardyn's gaze.

"I expect we have you to thank for this display," Ravus said. He spoke in a low drawl, careless and almost crude, and Noct felt the moment of discordance slide away as Ardyn turned his attention back to Ravus. Noct lurched for his champagne.

"I only added a few touches here and there," Ardyn said. "To honor our friendship, of course. Even if I couldn't be your best man--"

"I assure you, that wasn't on the table," Ravus said. Noct smiled to himself as he drained his glass.

"Why, Ravus," Ardyn said. "You wound me. After all this time?"

"You'll survive."

"Then at least allow me to offer my sincere congratulations," Ardyn said. Noct snorted, and Ravus cast him a sharp look. "By sending my wedding gift to your rooms."

"No, thanks," Noct said. 

"We can manage without," Ravus said, at the same time. Ardyn beamed.

"Oh, no," he said. "I insist."

He took Ravus' glass on the way out, leaving Noct and Ravus alone, staring into the wild eyes of their wedding sculpture.

"So," Noct said. "What do you think it is? Bees? I'm guessing bees."

Ravus pushed back from the table, turning from Noct without a word. Noct refilled his own glass from the silver pitcher on his table, and lifted it to the swan.

"Looks like it's just you and me, buddy," he said, and drained his glass. "That's not pathetic at all."

Noct was just on the verge of buzzed by the time he left for his rooms, drifting under the fairy lights woven into the flower garlands. Luna insisted on walking him there, having cowed the guys with a smile and a soft word, but Noct brushed her off at the entrance to their suite.

"Go have fun," he said. "Someone has to."

Luna frowned, looking more like Ravus than Noct cared to admit, but didn't protest as Noct fumbled with the lock. The honeymoon suite of the Leville took up most of the top floor, and the hallways stretched impossibly far as Noct kicked off his shoes and groped for a light. He didn't find it. Instead, he went inching down the hall, wishing he'd had enough to drown out the bitter silence waiting for him in his bedroom. 

Except... The suite _wasn't_ silent. Someone was breathing hard, sharp and harsh, and there was a soft sound of clothes rustling, of feet slipping on the polished wood floors. Noct slunk around a corner and stopped, a hand on the wall.

Ravus was standing in the pale, silvery light shining through the hallway window, lips parted as he heaved for air. Ardyn stood before him, one hand bracing him by the shoulder, the other further down, where the shadows merged and all Noct could see was the suggestion of movement, the light of the moon sliding over curled fingers.

_Shit._

Ravus bowed his head over Ardyn's shoulder. He shifted, crowding Ardyn up against the window, and the panes rattled as Ravus' hand went to Ardyn's neck. Ravus was taut as a strung wire, all jagged lines and hot breath, while Ardyn sprawled beneath him, languid and watchful. Ravus made a sharp, tight noise in the back of his throat, and Ardyn looked over his shoulders, locking Noct's gaze with his own. 

The glass trembled. Ravus released Ardyn's neck as though he were twitching his hand back from a fire, and Ardyn kissed him on the shoulder, mouth closed. He didn't break Noct's gaze once.

"Really?" Noct said. Ravus bumped into the window frame, cursing, and struggled to button up his suit. Ardyn just leaned back and smiled. " _Really?_ "

"Oh, don't presume to take the moral high ground," Ravus said. His voice was too breathless for venom. "I doubt you've been exactly thrilled--"

"I'm not about to bring someone to my own honeymoon suite," Noct said. "But hey, if that's what we're doing, I can go out there and find someone."

Ravus gave Ardyn a warning look, and Ardyn raised his hands in a helpless gesture. "I'm afraid I must have made a mess of things," he said. "Allow me to--"

"No," Noct and Ravus chorused. Ardyn raised an eyebrow. 

"It's too late for this," Ravus said. "We'll discuss it in the morning."

"No, we'll discuss it now," Noct said. "I gotta admit, when my dad told me I was betrothed to _you,_ I was pretty disappointed."

"What a relief that the empire chose to intervene when it did," Ravus drawled. 

"But now it turns out you're literally in bed with the enemy," Noct said. 

"Now, that's rather harsh," Ardyn said. Ravus just looked at him, unmoved, somehow managing to look like Noct was below _his_ dignity, never mind how he'd been undone by Ardyn just a minute before.

"Maybe Luna's still downstairs," Noct said. "If we're just gonna fuck around, don't see why I can't--"

"Oh, dear," Ardyn murmured, as Ravus' hand closed around Noctis' throat. 

Light burst around them as Noct was shoved into the wall, and the two blades in Noct's armiger hovered at his temples, their tips following Ravus as he hunched over Noct. Ravus was breathing hard again, his eyes dilated and dark in the light of Noct's magic, and Noct strained against the press of fingers at his throat. He was alone with the enemy, with a traitor to his own people, with a man whose wedding ring was cold on the exposed skin of Noctis' neck. Ravus' leg brushed Noct's, and Noct hissed slightly, drawing a sharp breath between his teeth.

Ravus glanced down, then up, his brows locked in disgust. "Lovely," he spat. "There's another one of you."

"Another _what?_ " Noct asked, then grunted as Ravus pushed him against the wall a second time, knocking the breath out of him. A thrill ran through Noct's skin, fear and revulsion and something like elation, the dizzying lurch of the fall before a warp. Ravus pressed his leg between Noct's again, with purpose this time, and Noct flushed at the heat pooling there, sending a spike of pleasure through his jangling nerves.

"I did say you'd make an excellent match," Ardyn said. Noct nearly jumped out of his skin. Ardyn was right next to them, running a finger down the blade of one of Noct's swords, tilting it slightly. He smiled, wolflike, and Noct tensed as Ardyn slowly unhooked Ravus' fingers from Noct's throat. Ardyn bent down, a shadow passing between them, and Noct only had a moment to brace himself before there were cool lips on his, a calloused hand tipping his head back on the wallpaper.

The edge of Noct's blade slid along Ardyn's cheek as he tugged Noct into a deeper kiss, that rush surging through him again like a bolt from the blue, but the sword didn't break the skin, leaving only a pale line behind. Ardyn pushed it aside, and it collapsed into light, sinking into Noct as Noct was drawn, fingers clenched and chest heaving, into Ardyn's hold. He dug his nails into Ardyn's neck and bit his lower lip, and Ardyn smiled again, wicked and slow.

"Here we are, Ravus," Ardyn said, and Noct's breath caught as Ardyn stroked his hair, softly, like an old lover. Ravus met Noct's eyes, and something passed between them, an understanding, a plea, hatred tempered by fear and desire into something new, something terrifying. Noct reached out and brushed his fingers over the collar of Ravus' wedding suit, and Ravus shuddered.

Ardyn's smile was the gash of a knife in the dark.

"My gift to you."


End file.
